Day 8 - Saturday:
34°, cold wind & misting
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Mist on the mountains and Suburbans on volcanoes

Up at 5:30 as promised to get ready to leave.  Not as cold as predicted ... only in the mid-thirties.  Foggy out.  Pack a little then on to the dining hall for donuts and rolls.  What a beautiful sight.  Low clouds hovering in the valleys all through camp and a very light mist.

Back to camp to finish packing and loading.  Two vehicles were brought down at a time to load up.  As fortune (or misfortune) would have it, our Wayward Scout was missing again.  At least it didn't take long this time to spot him under one of the tent platforms pickup up trash ... we just couldn't see him because he was in camo from head to toe.

After breaking camp and checking out, we all met in the parking lot, climbed into the vehicles and left the lot about 8:30 am.  We headed for the Colorado Springs airport to put Mrs. Rogers and Chris on their flight.

Pike's Peak was hidden in the mist.  Visibility was low in many places.  Mr. Whitacre, Mrs. Kirkpatrick and Mr. Luff went ahead to the airport while the other adults stayed together and behind.  Not far from the airport, one of the Scouts with Mr. Rhoades got carsick, requiring an emergency stop on the side of the road.  Then, all the vehicles met up just outside the airport.

We drove to Fountain, CO, for refueling and after a restroom stop where the Scouts bought all the candy and soda they could, we headed back out again.  We agreed we'd not drive in a convoy, everyone on their own, and meet up again at the top of Capulan Mountain, an extinct volcano, in northeastern New Mexico.  Most carloads stopped for lunch breaks in Trinidad, but few actually ate together having arrived at different times.

About 3 pm, everyone starts straggling into the Capulan Park Visitor's Center.  After a rest stop, most watch the 10-minute film.  We go out to the parking lot and Mr. Luff drop off the troop trailer and Mr. Whitacre drops his small trailer as they aren't allowed on the narrow road up the volcano.  Once we get to the top, some Scouts tear off down into the crater while others hike the crater rim.

When it comes time to leave, would you believe it?  The Luff Surburban won't start (now...who's idea was it to come up here, anyway Mr. Luff?)  Mr. Luff won't be able to tow the trailer and the only other vehicle that can has already left.  We use the handy-dandy FRS radios to reach Mr. Whitacre and Mrs. Kirkpatrick and tell them to return.  Once they get back, boys and equipment are shuffled to other vehicles.  We all go back down to the museum to make phone calls to get a tow truck and motel reservations (cell phones do not work in the park for some reason).

We are running way behind schedule to make it to the church in Guymon, OK, so Mrs. Kirkpatrick straps the troop trailer onto her Yukon, with Mr. Mingus and Mr. Whitacre following, and take off.  The rest stay with the Luffs to make sure they can get a tow and motel back to Raton (about 25 miles).  Once assured a tow is on it's way and they are okay, everyone leaves the Luffs in the sunset and head east into the flat, dull, boring, etc., etc. 'scenic' Oklahoma Panhandle.

About 7pm Oklahoma time (6 pm volcano time), Mr. Luff calls Mr. Grimes with the good news/bad news.  The wrecker driver got the Suburban going and the good news is they are on their way.  The bad news is they can't turn off the engine or it won't start again and they have to drive straight through to Oklahoma City. (and, Luffs, we're still not convinced that wasn't your Suburban we saw at the Hilton and the steak house in Guymon!).

We finally get to the church, on 6th Street, and find it has a carpeted basketball court, a kitchen, and - more importantly for the adults anyway - showers.  Finally, we can make the boys take showers.

After the vehicles and the trailer are unloaded and the pizza ordered, the adults can finally take a little break.  It's nice to have the Scouts in a walled, confined space, where they can work off some energy with basketball, Pokeman cards or whatever instead of on each other.  Mr. Rhoades goes off to make arrangements for breakfast, donuts and Braum's (that sure took a long time ... is that steak on your breath?).

The pizza dude finally arrives and Mrs. Kirkpatrick does kitchen duty (bless your heart), serving the pizza, watermelon, left-over birthday cake and Gatorade.  Mr. Rhoades monitors the Scouts and sends them in small groups to the serving lines.  He's been doing that the entire week and keeps looking for wrist bands and hats.  After seconds and cleaning up, the Scouts head back to their games for a little while.

In the meantime, the adults set up shower schedules for the Scouts.  We have four showers available ... two in the men's and two in the women's.  We schedule the younger boys first and the older ones last.  Start a little before 10 pm and end up a little after 11.  Finally, we have clean boys and adults.

For the first time in a week, everyone can sleep without six layers of clothes, a wool cap and a sleeping bag bundled all around.

NEXT: DAY 9